Negative Effects Of Bilingual Education

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The United States of America has long been considered the “melting pot” of cultures, ethnicities and even languages. For decades, the experience of immigration into America has influenced the linguistic assimilation into the English language, a prevailing characteristic of American society. The rapid growth of English assimilation and the clash with cultural identity extends to modern generations, especially in modern education. David Nieto’s history of bilingual education discusses the influence of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, having initiated the use of bilingual Education in America. Eventually, the Bilingual Education Act of 1974 defined and legitimized bilingual education in schools, which added special programs for minority students …show more content…

Bilingual programs lack certified teachers, and inequalities in the education of students are created since all students do not receive an adequate education. In his book Burro Genius, Victor Villasenor illustrates that students like himself, those who speak only English, fail in bilingual class settings. For example, Villasenor explains that his very first day of school his teacher sat him next other students who only knew spanish as their primary language, and that his teacher yelled “ENGLISH ONLY!” (61). Villasenor explains that from that moment on he made a choice to stay quiet in his class so that he would not get in trouble and get sent to the principal 's office for punishment; until later on middle school (62-63). This is a prime example of how lacking teachers who can really help students produces negative effects on their educational success. However, switching to English-immersion programs allow teachers to use a single, dominant language and teach each student in an equal setting. Aimi Chin, N. Meltem Daysal, and Scott Imberman maintain data that shows teachers who are teaching in the bilingual programs in Texas have a 20-student cutoff (Impact of Bilingual Education). This reveals that the staff has a 1 to 20 teacher to student ratio in the program. Acknowledging that the school board is limiting the class size, teachers are put into higher demand when there is no validation for it. Therefore, the lack of qualified teachers is not the only problem that has arisen from bilingual

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